The Balenicaga boutique in Vancouver takes over a busy corner, set away from the street with municipal features: pebbled stairs and planters, chrome banisters and columns. A sleek Balenciaga sign in white light sits atop a curved band that wraps the building and is reflected in a glass awning above.

The store’s overall design follows the brand’s experiential Raw Architecture concept, conceived to question the nature of authenticity by respecting existing structural elements and adding evocative details. The interior contrasts with and responds to the exterior, for example, situating Balenciaga’s latest men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, shoes, bags, accessories, eyewear, and jewelry among materials typically meant for outdoor public architecture.

A patina adds to the dissonance. Walls and floors with intentionally rough edges are made of brushed concrete that has been treated to simulate corrosion. Ceiling grids, lighting systems, and other technical fixtures are exposed overhead. Large, overstuffed benches surrounding small metal tables reference public seating areas. Polished, underlit shelving and high-definition digital video screens punctuate the vacated effect with modernity.